Recorded venue acoustics masked loudspeaker resonances that technical signals reveal

Evidence

Sound of a given frequency can block our ability to hear softer sounds at nearby frequencies, but distant frequencies are not affected. The threshold for detecting the softer sound is raised by the presence of a louder sound within the same critical bandwidth. Even if the softer sound is audible, it will not seem as loud as it would if played alone. Similarly, two tones that fall within the same critical bandwidth will appear to be less loud together than two tones of the same total energy that fall outside each others’ critical bandwidths. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Hall reverberation cloaks loudspeaker defects in live-versus-reproduced demonstrations — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 398; More playback channels increasingly mask audible loudspeaker resonances — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 568; Masking acts within critical bandwidths, leaving distant-frequency sounds unaffected — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Masking acts within critical bandwidths, leaving distant-frequency sounds unaffected #expands (0.85) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009
• Reproduced recordings can reveal high-frequency detail inaudible in live concert halls #corroborates (0.85)
• Early reflection control often concealed flawed off-axis loudspeaker performance. #corroborates (0.85)
• Loud speech can mask its own high-frequency components via upward spread of masking #complicates (0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2480
• Identical reverberation times can mask drastically different room sizes and acoustics #exemplifies (0.70)